Former NEO instructor charged with 6 counts of sexual child abuse
MIAMI, Okla. – A former Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College instructor was officially charged in Ottawa County District Court on Thursday with sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl.
Aaron Smith, 44, of Fairland, remains in the Ottawa County jail. He is charged in Ottawa County District Court with six counts of child sexual abuse. According to court records, he remains jailed on a $150,000 bail and is expected to return to court on Friday.
Smith is accused of sexually abusing the teen on NEO’s campus. The teen told investigators she and Smith exchanged nude pictures of themselves, according to an arrest affidavit.
Smith has since been fired, according to a statement released by NEO.
Investigators say Smith was on the telephone with the teen while she took 25 muscle relaxers and stayed on the phone until the teen passed out, according to the affidavit.
During her hospitalization, Smith allegedly called the hospital repeatedly, asking if medical personnel had pumped the teen’s stomach and what they found in her system, the affidavit states.
Investigators said Smith made allegations to the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office, the Delaware County Children’s Special Advocacy Network, and the Children’s Advocacy Center of Ottawa County that a 14-year-old boy had raped the teen. The teen’s mother denied any sexual assault by a teenage boy, the affidavit states.
Butler Tech program director accused of
possessing images of child sexual abuse
Quinlan BentleyA program director with Butler Tech was recently placed on leave following his indictment for allegedly possessing images of children being sexually abused.
Butler Tech spokesperson AJ Huff confirmed Campbell is the director of robotics, engineering, aviation and manufacturing. He was placed on administrative leave on Monday.
"He was not directly supervising students in this role," Huff said in an emailed statement.
According to Campbell's LinkedIn page, he previously taught engineering at Northwest Local Schools.
Campbell was arraigned Wednesday afternoon and prosecutors asked for a $20,000 bond, however, a judge released him on his own recognizance, according to Enquirer media partner Fox19. He was also placed on house arrest with an electronic monitor.
His attorney has yet to respond to a message from The Enquirer seeking comment.
Campbell is expected in court for a pretrial hearing on Sept. 25.
Tolland summer camp director accused of sexual abuse against boy on field trip
By Amanda Pitts
An allegation of sexual abuse was made against a youth summer camp director in Tolland, and despite a confession, no charges were filed, but a state agency took action.
According to documents obtained by NBC Connecticut through a public records request, the alleged incident involved a 12-year-old boy and a director at the Star Hill Family Athletic Center’s day camp.
The camp runs from mid-June to the end of August and serves children ages 4 years old to 14 years old.
According to the documents, the incident occurred on August 16, 2023, during a field trip to Rocky Neck State Park in Niantic.
A day later, the Department of Children and Families (DCF) received a complaint that upon returning home from camp, a 12-year-old boy told his mother that “a weird incident occurred in the Rocky Neck bathhouse” between the boy and a person whose name has been redacted from the complaint. The incident involved baby powder, but the details of what is alleged to have happened were redacted.
An investigation was opened by DCF, the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood (OEC), and Connecticut State Police.
The state police detective investigating stated in an email that he was able to obtain a confession corroborating the victim’s claims, verifying there was a violation of sexual assault in the 4th degree.
DCF, according to the documents, found abuse and neglect, and cited the Star Hill Family Athletic Center for multiple violations, finding that the camp director “engaged in emotional neglect and sexual abuse regarding a camper” and “does not have the personal qualities necessary to care for and work with children.”
In late September of last year, the OEC, in an email to Star Hill, gave the center the opportunity to surrender its youth camp license, saying “the evidence that we currently have raises significant concerns for us.”
Star Hill did not surrender its youth camp license and the camp is still operating.
In December, the investigating detective provided an update on the investigation to the Assistant Attorney General, writing in an email, that despite getting a confession, the New London State’s Attorney’s Office refused to sign the arrest warrant.
The detective wrote, “the assigned prosecutor did not believe she could prove intent of sexual assault in the case.” The detective continued, saying, “it was a very frustrating investigation, however, as a result, the investigation has been closed on my end.”
In the end, the OEC issued a consent order for the center to sign, in which the camp director is named.
The consent order reads, “the licensee shall not permit Michael Smida to provide care or have unsupervised access to a child” and “shall not permit Michael Smida to participate in any direct management, oversight or personnel function related to the operation of the youth camp.”
The managing member of Star Hill signed that consent order in March, and when the OEC performed an inspection in June, they found no violations of the order.
When NBC Connecticut called Star Hill on Wednesday, a person answering the phone referred to Smida as one of the people still in charge of the camp.
He is also still listed as part owner of the Star Hill Family Athletic Center’s LLC.
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